Of Stones and Assumptions
by juniper red
Summary: One-shot. Hiei's point of view on Kurama's fight with Genbu.Can be seen as pre H/K if you so desire.


A/N: Thank you to all the people who liked my other YYH story and who favorited me or my story. Sorry I haven't written in a long time. I have a lot of short story ideas but they all seem to get weighed down by that pesky thing called schoolwork and my inherent perfectionism. Funny that. Sorry for the long wait, I hope you enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the YYH characters, I just like playing with them.

Of Stones and Assumptions

Hiei watched Kurama flip through the air with a kind of lazy pride. As he'd told the humans, there were _reasons_ why he had chosen the fox as a partner, aside from his skills as a thief. Kurama was deadly grace and fierce intelligence. A flash of fire cloaked with the cool composure of an iceburg; mysterious and deadly.

Genbu didn't stand a chance.

It had raised Hiei's eyebrows when Kurama was hit in the stomach by Genbu's tail, but he quickly dismissed it as a ploy to make Genbu underestimate the "injured" fox. The swift finish via Rose Whip a few minutes later confirmed his conclusion and Hiei returned to contemplating the useless humans who thought they could hold a candle to Kurama.

He was decidedly annoyed a minute later when it turned out that Genbu actually had some worth as a demon and could reform his body. Annoyed, but not worried. The fox was still standing and dealing with Genbu the first time had barely scratched the surface of his abilities. Though when Genbu still reformed after being reduced to stone splinters it did not help his mood. But never mind that, this was Kurama, he could easily avoid a pile of stones. Besides, he was a demon and they were just rocks. For all of Yusuke and Kuwabara's yelling that Kurama was going to get himself killed when he stopped dodging the barrage of stones, Hiei knew it was just part of Kurama's strategy. When Genbu attempted to reform again and ended up looking like a puzzle put together by an enthusiastic blind three-year old Hiei folded his arms smugly and watched Kurama explain to the less intelligent of the group (i.e. everyone but him) just what had happened. Four Saint Beasts or not, none of them was a match for his speed or Kurama's intelligence. As Genbu collapsed into a pile of shards, Hiei silently mocked him for even thinking he could take on Kurama.

It was rather disconcerting when Kurama collapsed as well.

Yusuke and Kuwabara rushed over to him, Hiei following behind. Surely the fox was just being dramatic, tickling the humans nobility centers so that they would be stupid enough to take the next fights and let the fox be lazy. But no, there was genuine apology and slight pain in Kurama's eyes when he looked at Yusuke, and accomplished liar as he was, Hiei could hear the ring of truth in his voice.

He summed it up in a few words.

"If Kurama is injured, we're going to have some problems."

He meant it in the sense that now they would have to rely on the humans to win some of the fights and he had next to no confidence in their abilities, though perhaps Yusuke wasn't entirely useless. But something about the situation felt uncomfortable, like a wall that he had put his back against had developed a crack and instead of abandoning it he was trying to figure out how to use mortar to seal up the crack. But that was ridiculous, Hiei had no need of anyone or anything to guard his back and he would never trust the fox with it anyway after his interference during Hiei's fight with Yusuke. But the funny feeling didn't go away, so Hiei decided to ignore it, rather as he ignored Kurama's smile when he walked a bit nearer Kurama than normal as they headed up the stairs.

A/N: Well, there we be. I hope you enjoyed it, short though it was. I love that scene and I've always wondered just what Hiei was thinking that he actually looked worried at the thought of Kurama being injured. Please review if you are so inclined, and thank you again to all who favorited me or enjoyed my previous H/K story. It means a lot.


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